Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Hires Spin Doctors for Flint Health Crisis

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Jan. 22, 2016, 9:20 PM GMT / Updated Jan. 22, 2016, 10:18 PM GMT

By Tony Dokoupil

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, under intense fire for his handling of the Flint water emergency, has hired an out-of-state public relations firm that specializes in crisis management.

Mercury LLC, which bills itself as a "high stakes public strategy firm," said in a statement that it is not being paid with state funds.

"Due to the intense media demand and severity of this issue, we are assisting the Governor’s team so that they are able to dedicate their focus and resources to helping the people of Flint," Mercury said in an email.

There was no immediate word from Snyder's office on the scope of Mercury's duties or who is paying the firm, which has offices from New York to London, but none in Michigan.

A Mercury vice president sent out an email Friday with links to news stories that highlighted failures by the Environmental Protection Agency in Flint and contained positive coverage of Snyder.

Snyder appeared Friday morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and blamed "career civil service people" for "terrible decisions" that led to thousands of children being exposed to lead for months after Flint's water supply was switched to save money.

"We have to live with the consequences," he said. "They work for me so I accept that responsibility, and we're going to fix this problem."

Tony Dokoupil

Tony Dokoupil is a reporter for msnbc and the host of "Greenhouse" on SHIFT by msnbc, a show about the life and much-predicted death of our old familiar globe.

He previously joined NBC News in September of 2013 and contributed scripts and features to NBCNews.com, along with reporting across NBC platforms, including the Today Show and Nightly News.

He’s also the author of “The Last Pirate,” a book about his father and the pre-legal world of smuggled marijuana. The New York Times called it, “a probing, exuberant memoir” and People Magazine said the story “will fill you with hope.”

Prior to NBC News, Dokoupil worked for The Newsweek Daily Beast Company, where he was a senior writer. In that role, he was a host of BeastTV and he wrote numerous cover stories, including “The Suicide Epidemic,” “iCrazy” and “Dustoff 73.” His story “The Last Dive" and the original video became Newsweek's first video cover.